To GMs:
Post your line-ups, special teams, captains, style of play, tactics and anything else you can imagine about your team here. Explain why you think your team would prevail in a 7 game playoff series and what strategies your team would use to do so.

It is up to you to ensure that your opponent is cap compliant. If you find out they aren't, you may win by DQ.

As a GM you must vote in every contest once the poll is up. This is to ensure we have the bare minimum number of votes in case other broads don't step up. If you don't vote in all other match-ups, your own team will not progress.

No vote rigging is allowed. You are allowed to encourage other posters to vote in this thread but you cannot ask them to vote for you.

To non-GMs:
Please look at the line-ups and the arguments of each GM for their respective teams. Then vote for the team you think will win a 7 game playoff series. Try to remain impartial. It's not a requirement but please explain in a post why you vote for the team you voted for.

Poll will be up later, once both GMs have posted their line-ups and opening arguments.

First off I must say, out of all the GMs aside from me, I think the Jets have the best balance of all the elements you have a ton size and descent amount of speed with that said, I've been getting shitted on for my goaltending, based on what happened in last years playoffs, my team is a matchup nightmare for Reimer and I'll explain why. You're team also doesn't skate that well, the thing that I think is so special about my team, it can do everything.

Wayne Simmonds - Ryan O'Reilly - Ryan Callahan vs Evander Kane - Eric Staal - Matt Read Overall I think the line with the best combination of size and speed win this one, therefore I would go with my line. Also I don't think anyone will be able to out work this line. I seriously can't think of anyone that works harder than O'Reilly and Callahan.Representing the blue line: Keving Shattenkirk - Francois Beauchemin

Raffi Torres - Jarret Stoll - Shane Doan vs Andrew Ladd - Henrik Zetterberg - Steve DownieThe first think I like about this match up is Jarret Stoll will eat up Zetterberg in the face-off circle. Last season Jarret Stoll had a face-off percentage 8 points higher than Zetterberg's, also about that matchup, I've noticed that when the Red Wings and Kings matchup, Jarret Stoll really matches up well against Zetterberg. As for the wings, I think the line with more muscle wins this, Raffi Torres and Shane Doan have the edge, plus I think they're also better skaters, and I also believe i think I may also have just as much offensive fire power.From the blueline I would put down Dalton Prout and Torey Krug. On this paring I have an excellent shutdown defensemen that did not get enough notice last year in Dalton Prout, I know I've given this stat out so many times, he was a +15 in 28 games, that is incredible. I also really like Torey Krug, who just dug up this stat, last year during the playoffs, Krug was a +5, Dennis Seidenberg, who many believe is the 2nd best defensemen on that team, +1. Also had a superior playoffs offensively as well.

Patrick Sharp - TJ Oshie - Jiri Tlusty Vs Colin Wilson - Brian Boyle - David MossAside from win face-offs, my line can do everything better. From the blueline I would have Cam Folwer and Brenden Dillon on the ice. I have as good of puck moving defensemen as it gets in Cam Fowler, alongside Brenden Dillon, a really good shutdown D that was 5th in hits. Cam Fowler will make mistakes, but I believe Brenden Dillon is more than capable of bailing him out, so I think this will be a solid paring.

James Van Riemsdyk - Sam Gagner - Cody Hodgson vs Tye McGinn - Shawn Matthias - Jamie McGinnThis is a bit of a tiny fourth line, so I have no fear when I out out this line. In this matchup I'm looking to attack with lots of speed, and lots of skills. It's a solid fourth line, but not a great one. I think my line would just skate in circles around you line. Also I really like Sam Gagner who had been rumored to be the next captain in Edmonton and for good reason.The Blue line on the ice: Kevin Shattenkirk - Francois Beauchemin. I've been getting bitched at over how bad defensively Cody Hodgson is, so I'm gonna have my best shutdown defensemen right behind him Beauchemin, who I'll say it again, did not get enough consideration for the Norris. Also, when I put this line out, I'm trying to get points on the board, Shattenkirk is as good as anyone offensively from the blue line.

Goaltending matchup: Yes I understand non of you like Steve Mason, some of you seem to go blind by the sight of Steve Mason, but I like this matchup. For me, I believe that for years he's been relied on way too much to steal games, therefore he's faltered. For my team, he won't steal games, he just can't blow it.

[SIZE="2"]Why my team matches up perfectly against James Reimer[/size]Last year when the Leafs lost to the Bruins and Reimer faltered, he faltered because the Bruins were superior at crashing the net with guys like Lucic and Horton. My team has guys that can do that everywhere. Callahan, Simmonds, O'Reilly, Doan, Torres, Stoll, Riemsdyk, Oshie, Sharp, they're everywhere, so my team would be the matchup nightmare for Reimer.

The first shot has been fired. Take a deep breath, fucker, and put your head between my knees. You will not be coming up for air any time soon.

GOALTENDING

Steve rebounded well in Philadelphia, but those 7 games do not completely absolve the previous 4 seasons in which his save percentage averaged a 0.901. In the post-season, life didn't get any easier for Mason whose 0.901 save percentage dropped to a 0.878, part of a forgettable 4 game sweep.

While Reimer's relatively new to the scene, his save percentage over the same span of time is a 0.915, and his shut-out record (10) eclipses that of his competition (9) in half the amount of games. In the post-season, there was no drop-off in performance as he took the Bruins to 7 games with a 0.923 save percentage.

Simply put, Reimer can steal a game. It's highly improbable Mason will do the same, until he proves otherwise capable. He is, however, plenty fucking capable of burying a team that doesn't have a whole lot of offensive talent (i.e. yours).

Rogers Pancreas wrote:The first shot has been fired. Take a deep breath, fucker, and put your head between my knees. You will not be coming up for air any time soon.

GOALTENDING

Steve rebounded well in Philadelphia, but those 7 games do not completely absolve the previous 4 seasons in which his save percentage averaged a 0.901. In the post-season, life didn't get any easier for Mason whose 0.901 save percentage dropped to a 0.878, part of a forgettable 4 game sweep.

While Reimer's relatively new to the scene, his save percentage over the same span of time is a 0.915, and his shut-out record (10) eclipses that of his competition (9) in half the amount of games. In the post-season, there was no drop-off in performance as he took the Bruins to 7 games with a 0.923 save percentage.

Simply put, Reimer can steal a game. It's highly improbable Mason will do the same, until he proves otherwise capable. He is, however, plenty fucking capable of burying a team that doesn't have a whole lot of offensive talent (i.e. yours).

Outside of Raffi Torres, everyone on my team is a capable 60 point scorer, and Raffi Torres himself as quite a bit of offensive punch, so I don't wanna hear how my team isn't capably of scoring. Also again, I'll make this point, last year in the final two game of that series, the Bruins proved a two things. They were asleep, if you crash Reimer's net he'll fall apart. There's not another team that can do that better than mine. Torres, Callahan, Simmonds, Van Riemsdyk, Doan, Stoll, O'Reilly, Sharp, and Oshie, will crash/crowd his net make Reimer's life miserably.

As for my goaltending, my forwards are loaded with defense, while my blue line has total of 1 minus player. Mason has also proven that he can play if there's a good D in front of him, see his Calder. If you're not asking Mason to carry your team, he'll be good enough.

When I originally looked at Fuck You's defense, he had a pairing of Beauchemin and Fowler; whether it be by design or by chance, the pairing paralleled the Niedermayer and Beauchemin pairing the Ducks briefly employed way back when. The major differences being, Beauchemin at 34 years of age, having had his minutes pared down to 23:27, was now the best player leading the group, and his partner barely a shadown of the Hall of Famer.

The personnel's since changed. My group has not, however. 26-year old Marc Staal, whose all-around game makes him one of the best stay-at-home defensemen of his age group, will be paired with Alex Pietrangelo, an elite two-way defenseman who has compiled more votes for the Norris Memorial (404) than the Red Wings' entire squad (290) cumulatively, god rest Lidstrom's soul. Both routinely play in excess of 24 minutes a night for their respective former clubs, and they'll be counted on to continue the trend for the Winnipeg Jets.

I actually like Shattenkirk so while it pained me to see him away from Beauchemin, I understood the reasoning. With 201 games to his credit, he's one of the Red Wing's senior-most defenders, a fact that needs to emphasized given he's since been removed from Brenden Dillon, a defenseman with just 49 NHL games to his credit.

Zach Bogosian, at 23 years old, with his injury history, has more experience the the two combined. And he's the youngster on his pairing. His partner, Toby Enstrom has appeared in over 400 games, has an All-Star selection to his credit, and most notably represented Sweden at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. They're young, experienced, they're well-rounded... above all else, they're proven.

Torey Krug's college career nearly mirrors that of Erik Gustafsson. He may even end up being the better player somewhere down the line. However, as of today, Gustafsson has proved to be the more reliable defender, averaging over 20 minutes a night for the Philadelphia Flyers this past season, and (as previously stated) over 24 minutes a night representing Team Sweden at the 2013 World Hockey Championships. Krug, by comparison, averaged approximately 15 minutes a night for the Boston Bruins.

Prout is a player I know absolutely nothing about. But, again, he doesn't come with much of a track-record to speak of (which is probably why I've never heard of him.) The two, Proust and Krug, have appeared in a grand total of 51 NHL games. That's it. Gus alone has 67 games under his belt. Figure in Mike Weber's 181 games played, and it's pretty lop-sided in terms of performance, and consistency.

You may have changed your strategy, fuck you, but the same fatal flaw remains, perhaps even more evident now that Beauchemin and Shattenkirk have been paired together. You've got a deadly inexperienced defensive corps(e) trying to contain a team that actually knows how to score.

Fuck You wrote:Outside of Raffi Torres, everyone on my team is a capable 60 point scorer, and Raffi Torres himself as quite a bit of offensive punch, so I don't wanna hear how my team isn't capably of scoring. Also again, I'll make this point, last year in the final two game of that series, the Bruins proved a two things. They were asleep, if you crash Reimer's net he'll fall apart. There's not another team that can do that better than mine. Torres, Callahan, Simmonds, Van Riemsdyk, Doan, Stoll, O'Reilly, Sharp, and Oshie, will crash/crowd his net make Reimer's life miserably.

I like that style of play because it tends to work more times than not. There's a catch-22 to your strategy, though. It tends to lead to more than a few penalties against. And I've got the personnel to make you pay.

I have multiple defensemen with 50+ point seasons to their credit (you don't have one). I have multiple forwards with 90 point seasons to their credit (again... you don't have one.) You have three forwards that have ever broke the 60 point marker - Sharp, Doan, and Stoll. And of the bunch, only Sharp will ever break that plateau again.

As for my goaltending, my forwards are loaded with defense, while my blue line has total of 1 minus player. Mason has also proven that he can play if there's a good D in front of him, see his Calder. If you're not asking Mason to carry your team, he'll be good enough.

Your top 3 forward lines are adequate defensively.

Your 4th-line is an abortion, and it will BLEED goals against. Pray they never get caught on the ice for an extended period of time, because the Jets have the final change, and your defense (as much as you'd like pass them off as being reliable) is not going to be of much assistance, regardless who you have out there. It's either a double-shifted Beauchemin and Shattenkirk, or rookies featuring a Cam Fowler cameo.

[SIZE="7"]Meet Dalton Prout[/size]Last season Prout knew only one thing, that was success. When the Blue Jackets were struggling, when Bobrovsky had a save percentage under .900, Prout was in the minor. when Prout was called up the Blue Jackets record was 5-12-3. Maybe he wasn't the number one reason why the Blue Jackets took off the way they did in the 2nd, but he truly was the unsung hero. Again with this stat, he was a +15 in 28 games, a total of 10 goals were score against him, if he would have played a full season and continued his pace, Prout would have tallied about 100 hits, he would have also had about 80 blocked shot, and about 20 points, which is really solid offensive bite for a shutdown defensemen. One more stat, it maybe a bit much to correlate the two, but again, Prout was the unsung hero, with Prout in the lineup, the Blue Jackets were 19-5-3.

In regards to Brenden Dillon, yeah he's inexperienced, but because of his truculent style of play, his game will translate just fine.

As for Krug, yeah again lack of experience but at the same time, he was the 2nd best defensemen for a Stanley Cup final runner, that say something.

If anything goes wrong, I still have Deryk Engelland on the sidelines, he's a pretty underrated shutdown defensemen that can bring truculence, and also has the experience you've been asking for.

Rogers Pancreas wrote:I like that style of play because it tends to work more times than not. There's a catch-22 to your strategy, though. It tends to lead to more than a few penalties against. And I've got the personnel to make you pay.

I have multiple defensemen with 50+ point seasons to their credit (you don't have one). I have multiple forwards with 90 point seasons to their credit (again... you don't have one.) You have three forwards that have ever broke the 60 point marker - Sharp, Doan, and Stoll. And of the bunch, only Sharp will ever break that plateau again.

Your top 3 forward lines are adequate defensively.

Your 4th-line is an abortion, and it will BLEED goals against. Pray they never get caught on the ice for an extended period of time, because the Jets have the final change, and your defense (as much as you'd like pass them off as being reliable) is not going to be of much assistance, regardless who you have out there. It's either a double-shifted Beauchemin and Shattenkirk, or rookies featuring a Cam Fowler cameo.

I'm confused. Are you saying you're giving Torres, Stoll, and Doan less TOI than JVR, Hodgson, and Gagner based on my match-ups? Because if that's the case, I'll shelve my second line (in favor of special teams' situations *cough* Zetterberg *cough*) and consequently your "4th-line", continue to roll my defense any number of ways, and run Beauchemin and Shattenkirk clear into the center of the earth.

I've seen the McGinns work enough to know JVR isn't muscle enough to offset Gagner, and Hodgson once my group gets its cycle working; at that point, all they need to do is keep the cycle going. No scoring chances for, none against, and it's a net win for my group.

Is that your end-game, ice a 34-year old defenseman 35 minutes a night in a best-of-seven series?

I'd like to point out how effect Downie can be, particularly in the slot. If you've never seen him player before, it wouldn't immediately register. But he is quite similar to Thomas Holmstrom, both in stature and style. He's a really effective uber-pest that knows exactly where players need to go to get goals. EXAMPLES

Rogers Pancreas wrote:I'm confused. Are you saying you're giving Torres, Stoll, and Doan less TOI than JVR, Hodgson, and Gagner based on my match-ups? Because if that's the case, I'll shelve my second line (in favor of special teams' situations *cough* Zetterberg *cough*) and consequently your "4th-line", continue to roll my defense any number of ways, and run Beauchemin and Shattenkirk clear into the center of the earth.

I've seen the McGinns work enough to know JVR isn't muscle enough to offset Gagner, and Hodgson once my group gets its cycle working; at that point, all they need to do is keep the cycle going. No scoring chances for, none against, and it's a net win for my group.

Is that your end-game, ice a 34-year old defenseman 35 minutes a night in a best-of-seven series?

JVR, Hodgson, and Gagner are my 2nd line, but will be matching up against Mathias's lineTorres, Stoll, and Doan are my 4th and will be matching up against Zetterberg's line.

Rogers Pancreas wrote:I'm confused. Are you saying you're giving Torres, Stoll, and Doan less TOI than JVR, Hodgson, and Gagner based on my match-ups? Because if that's the case, I'll shelve my second line (in favor of special teams' situations *cough* Zetterberg *cough*) and consequently your "4th-line", continue to roll my defense any number of ways, and run Beauchemin and Shattenkirk clear into the center of the earth.

I've seen the McGinns work enough to know JVR isn't muscle enough to offset Gagner, and Hodgson once my group gets its cycle working; at that point, all they need to do is keep the cycle going. No scoring chances for, none against, and it's a net win for my group.

Is that your end-game, ice a 34-year old defenseman 35 minutes a night in a best-of-seven series?

I'd like to point out how effect Downie can be, particularly in the slot. If you've never seen him player before, it wouldn't immediately register. But he is quite similar to Thomas Holmstrom, both in stature and style. He's a really effective uber-pest that knows exactly where players need to go to get goals. EXAMPLES

There is absolutely no reason to sully a good man's reputation like that and throw him in with that cocksucker Holmstrom.

As I lay on my death bed, this is when I start making my excuses.
I didn't get to choose my team, if it were up to me, I would have picked the Coyotes, and it would have made a huge difference.
I missed the first round before I even registered.
I'm the reason why Datsyuk is dead so all the GMs have conspired against me.
All of you have beef with Cody Hodgson and refuse to see past it. Seriously, I draft Cody midway through, before the draft is over MAW said all the GMs would vote against me because I have Cody on my team.
The Red Wings were forced upon me.
Lack of knowledge of Dalton Prout
You guys like Adam Proteau hockey. Name on team with more truculence than mine.
You guys are too irrational about Steve Mason.

Fuck You wrote:As I lay on my death bed, this is when I start making my excuses. I didn't get to choose my team, if it were up to me, I would have picked the Coyotes, and it would have made a huge difference. I missed the first round before I even registered. I'm the reason why Datsyuk is dead so all the GMs have conspired against me. All of you have beef with Cody Hodgson and refuse to see past it. Seriously, I draft Cody midway through, before the draft is over MAW said all the GMs would vote against me because I have Cody on my team.The Red Wings were forced upon me. Lack of knowledge of Dalton ProutYou guys like Adam Proteau hockey. Name on team with more truculence than mine.You guys are too irrational about Steve Mason.

I like Dalton Prout, but he isn't really a guy who puts your team over the top. Did anyone really outright say that Prout sucks?

As for Mason...I mean, you could've drafted Vokoun instead and made an easier case for yourself perhaps?

Cao wrote:I like Dalton Prout, but he isn't really a guy who puts your team over the top. Did anyone really outright say that Prout sucks?

As for Mason...I mean, you could've drafted Vokoun instead and made an easier case for yourself perhaps?

I'm still not convinced that Vokoun is a starter anymore though. How often do you see backups come in for stretched look really good, then when they're handed the keys, after awhile they fall apart? See Johan Hedberg it wasn't too long ago when Devil fans bided for him to get take the starting job, what happened when he finally became a starter? During the playoffs, Vokoun wasn't that good for that long.

Hedberg was an amazing back up until last season when he was asked to be the starter. DeBoer gave him no nights off and Marty was out for a while.You can't have a goaltender that age playing back-to-backs everytime. His psyche was shot.

Luke wrote:Hedberg was an amazing back up until last season when he was asked to be the starter. DeBoer gave him no nights off and Marty was out for a while.You can't have a goaltender that age playing back-to-backs everytime. His psyche was shot.

Yeah, Hedberg is a great backup, just not a starter. In his first six games as a starter while Marty was hurt, Hedberg gave up at least three goals in five of those starts.